Santa Claus is coming to Bill Gatton Acura-Mazda this weekend for a “Tis the Season of Reason” charity event to benefit the United Way of Washington County and members of the U.S. armed forces.

From to 3-6:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, rain or shine, a tent set up outside the dealership will serve as the North Pole on North Roan Street with Santa and his helpers available for visits and photos with children.

Fun activities for kids will be provided. Door prizes will be given away. Free popcorn will be available on Friday. And on Saturday there will be popcorn and hot dogs for all.

Kim Holley, vice-chair of this year’s United Way campaign will be there with information about the United Way’s $1.7 million fundraising campaign to benefit 17 local nonprofit service agencies. Holley will accept contributions from anyone who wishes to chip in. And for the troops, Charter Media’s “DVDs to the Troops” collection bins will be set up for collection of as many new and previously viewed DVDs as possible.

“The goal of this event is to help raise awareness and funds for the fantastic nonprofit organizations who help our community everyday,” Bill Gatton Acura-Mazda’s marketing manager Chelsea MacIver said.

“We have lots of charities we’re actively involved with all the time but we chose these two for this because the United Way is at the end of their campaign and we thought it would be a nice to raise some funds for them. And the troops, we thought since it’s Christmas and everyone is feeling generous, let’s see how many (DVDs) we can get. We’d like to fill up a couple of bins.”

Shelley Hutchinson with Charter Media, provided the “DVDs for Troops” bins for the benefit and will be back to see to their inclusion in Charter Media DVD shipments to military installations overseas.

Charter Media’s theory is, “to our troops stationed overseas, there’s nothing more satisfying than a glimpse of home.” And its standing invitation is for businesses and their customers to drop off their donations and let Hollywood do the rest.

Bill Gatton Acura-Mazda’s plan is to do its part for the DVD drive while everyone is in the Christmas spirit and in the mood for popcorn.

MacIver noted there are many agencies supported by the United Way and “if people are standing around having a good time and decide they want to donate a dollar or two to any of the agencies, they can specify an agency and Kim will have it set up so they can do that.”

For children of all ages, MacIver promised Santa will be in his finest form.

“This is Santa,” she said. “He wants to hear from kids what they want for Christmas and who’s been naughty and whose been nice. But it doesn’t matter if you’ve been naughty or nice, we want everyone to come and have a good time.”

The dealership is located next door to the Mellow Mushroom at 2909 N. Roan St. For more information about its North Pole on North Roan Street call 282-2493 or email MacIver at chelsea@billgattonacura.com,